Chapter 449: Apology

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Things looked bad for the keyboard warriors.

All topics relating to this incident were being hotly discussed.

The readers went crazy as they got into wild excitement with the appearance of Second Young Master Mu.

As for Xiang Wan, she had to return to her seat and she was in a daze.

It didn’t feel real!

It was like a dream!

If not for the trophy and the certificate on her hand, she wouldn’t have believed that it had happened.

Nonetheless, she could finally heave a sigh of relief.

She need not explain anything anymore.

The short two-to-three-minute appearance of Second Young Master Mu was the turning point of the award ceremony, it was enough to reverse all the negative effects of public opinion on her.

However, all these online dramas did not stop at all…

It just continued on at another direction.

Second Young Master Mu’s fans spontaneously dug out a lot of information and the truth…

For instance, the one who started to badmouth Xiang Gongzi was not a loyal and long-time fan of Second Young Master Mu.

In the reader chat group of Second Young Master Mu, the person who invited everyone to make a post to “defend” Second Young Master Mu was actually a newcomer who had just joined the group…

Everyone then realized that someone had used their fury for all the wrong reasons.

They started to continue digging for the truth…

They swore to find the person behind all these!

Before the event even ended, Second Young Master Mu’s fans released an apology statement.

Along with it, they also created a thread where they aggressively questioned:

“Who exactly is the one who started the cyberbullying against ‘Murder The Dream Guy’ and Xiang Gongzi?”

As soon as the thread appeared in the forum, it quickly spread to Weibo Hot News…

… Second Young Master Mu and “The Grey List”…

… Who is Second Young Master Mu’s girlfriend?

… Second Young Master Mu and “Murder The Dream Guy”…

… The award-winning novel of the Best Originality Award of the year…

Anything that had to do with Second Young Master Mu would appear in the hot news.

At the same time, countless “informants” appeared on the said thread; various so-called “insider information” with screenshots of chat records popped out one after another which took every reader by storm. They then caught the one behind these—Du Landuo.

She reaped what she had sown!

Wave after wave of verbal abuses was now targeted at her.

This woman…

Sitting at her seat which was less than three rows away from Xiang Wan, she was crying bitterly and softly…

Two authors sitting beside her were consoling Du Landuo and patting her back softly.

It was not a good feeling to suffer from cyber violence.

Xiang Wan had felt terrible to suffer from all the bullying. It was the same for Du Landuo…

There was no such thing as a truly evil and wicked person.

Those who loved to make malicious remarks online similarly would collapse in less than three sentences the moment the attacks started to hurl in their direction…

Occasionally, many of the authors would glance towards Xiang Wan.

The event was still ongoing, and Xiang Wan motionlessly looked at the stage, emotionlessly.

That had happened because Du Landuo had evil intentions, why did Xiang Wan have to care about it?

She did not start the retaliation, and she was also not the kind of person who would say that she was fine with all the abuses she had to endure once it subsided…

At this very moment, she felt that she was already kind enough to Du Landuo since she did not join her fans by going to the forum and give Du Landuo yet another slap in the face.

How could these people still expect her to come out and forgive Du Landuo?

Her mobile phone, that she kept in silent mode, vibrated without end.

Many people were sending her messages.

Some were her readers, while some were her fellow authors at Wen Quan Book Treasury.

Most of them were congratulating her and that she had finally cleared her name.

Some of them, however, were asking Xiang Wan to let Du Landuo off…

“She’s not that bad of a person. She’s simply too straightforward. She was also a victim in the entire Hu Bandao situation. Hu Bandao had a fling, so when she saw a woman’s sachet on him and realized that the sachet really belonged to you… As a woman, if you put yourself in her shoes, it was only normal for her to lose control…”

“I don’t think Du Landuo started all the smearing threads at the forum. This girl may have a vile mouth, but she’s actually quite naïve… Although Second Young Master Mu’s fans found information that showed how she started all these… and that those who were adding fuel to the fire were indeed her readers… Xiang Gongzi, you know very well that we can’t control the reader’s mood, words and deeds. Even if it was Du Landuo’s readers that did all these, it might not be under Du Landuo’s instruction…”

It was human nature to sympathize with the weak!

Du Landuo, whom the keyboard warriors were now attacking, totally fitted the image of a weak victim!

She got cheated, jilted, maligned and attacked…

Several authors at Wen Quan, who were on good terms with Du Landuo, tried to sound out Xiang Wan and tried to reconcile things with her.

They only had one ultimate goal in mind.

“Could you, please talk to Second Young Master Mu… to let her off?”

…

Xiang Wan did not reply.

Those who had never suffered as she did… what made them think they could persuade her to be magnanimous?

Who had ever pinched in a word for her when everyone was targeting her like a street rat?

If Bai Muchuan had not appeared at the event that night, how would the malicious thread that was targeting her end?

… Ding!

A message came in.

Xiang Wan looked at it.

“I’ll make a move first. Someone wanted to see me. Later when the event ends, I’ll come and pick you up!”

Xiang Wan’s heart was filled with sweetness and warmth just by looking at Bai Muchuan’s name.

“Okay.”

“… That’s all?”

“What else do I have to say?” Xiang Wan replied.

“You didn’t even thank your hubby?”

“Thank you! Thank you so much my darling!”

“Words ain’t enough! Hmph! There must be at least a kiss.”

Xiang Wan sent a red lips emoji. “Muah, muah! I’ll go back and reward you tonight!”

“Really?!”

“Really.”

“Tch! I’m in a hurry today, and I haven’t been able to write a chapter…”

Heh, this guy!

He always managed to amused her much!

Xiang Wan couldn’t help but sneak a laugh. “Take it as my thanks, you need not update a chapter in exchange for it—”

“That’s great! Thank you, my goddess!”

“It’s Captain Qi and the detectives who wanted to see you, right? Then you better get going.”

“You’re smart!”

Bai Muchuan did not have any relatives or other friends in Jin City. Wasn’t it normal for the JIn City detectives like Qi Canghai and the rest to request a meetup with him? She didn’t think that she deserved that praise.

Xiang Wan couldn’t help letting out a smile. When she looked up after messaging Bai Muchuan, she met Xuan Yue’s gaze. Only then did she realize that Xuan Yue had been looking at her for a long time.

Yup, Du Landuo was crying.

As for Xiang Wan, she had been smiling…

Nobody would remember how pitiful she looked when she was being heavily abused online earlier. They could only see how much tears Du Landuo was shredding and how bitter she was in their eyes.

Xiang Wan suddenly felt a tinge of sarcasm as she let out a bitter chuckle.

She directly faced Xuan Yue’s gaze.

“So do you think that I’m smiling at a not-so-right time?”

This took Xuan Yue aback. “No…”

“Are you thinking that,” smiled Xiang Wan, “at this time, I should come out and say something to her?”

Xuan Yue pressed her lips together as she felt a twinge of awkwardness. “About this… it depends on you.”

Xiang Wan stared at her. “Do you think she is pitiful?”

Xuan Yue replied, “Yes, she’s quite pitiful.”

Xiang Wan responded with her fingers on her chest, “So was I not pitiful earlier?”

Xuan Yue had no words to respond. “…”

She did not know what to reply to her.

After a while, Xuan Yue smiled. “Maybe you always give off a feeling that you’re strong, cold, and distant. Most of us hardly talk to you and know little about you… As for Du Landuo, she was someone who likes to chat with others and loved to mix around. Almost everyone’s familiar with her and understands her. I’m sure you know this. It’s different…”

“I understand.” Xiang Wan laughed.

Ordinary people’s views on incidents were not about right or wrong.

What differed was where they chose to stand.

“So, just because I didn’t cry out in pain and didn’t complain that I’m feeling miserable, anyone can just hurt me like this and I do not deserve any sympathy? What you’re trying to say to me is that those who only know how to cry and groan in pain, deserved our pity even though she’s the one who hurt someone else first? That’s what all of you are thinking, right?”

Xiang Wan asked her questions in a tepid manner. The lips that quirked upwards at the corners had a faint sarcasm to it.

Xuan Yue was quiet for a moment while she looked at her. “You’re right! Most people will behave and think like this…”

Xiang Wan remarked with a smile. “Luckily, you’re unlike most people!”

Xuan Yue just smiled and said nothing.

The event was ending soon.

Xie Wanwan, Ye Lun, and the rest of the invited celebrities appeared on stage respectively, but their appearance on stage was relatively short. Xiang Wan kept thinking about her own stuff even though her eyes were looking towards the stage. She did not really know what they had done on stage, she only heard their fans shouting their names and were cheering them on…

Du Landuo was still crying when the event ended.

Xiang Wan’s expression was as calm as usual.

Finally, the event ended. Under the guidance of the relevant staff, the audience started to leave the hall in order.

To prevent the occurrence of a disturbance, the authors would only leave after the audience.

The enormous hall started to become empty as the audience moved out slowly.

That made Du Landuo’s sobs resounded even more forlorn.

Xiang Wan felt like she was sitting on pricks while she waited.

She knew that the authors were looking at her.

Being watched was such a nasty feeling!

As though… she was the one who did something terrible.

Luckily, Fang Yuanyuan came over at this moment.

“Let’s leave together later!”

“Sure.” Xiang Wan smiled.

Fang Yuanyuan looked at her seriously and sat beside her since there was an empty seat. She continued to look at her and spoke softly. “Hey, why did I have a feeling as if I was dreaming about what happened earlier?”

“…”

Xiang Wan felt the same way too.

She asked, “You didn’t know that I’m actually on the list of recipients for an award?”

“Tch, I didn’t know…” answered Fang Yuanyuan, “had I known, I would have told you earlier. D*rn, why didn’t you tell me sooner that Bai Muchuan is Second Young Master Mu? I was worried for nothing…”

“Sooner…? You didn’t ask me about it.”

“Aye! You’re really!… If I know that we have him watching our back, I would have played my cards better…”

“… What would you have done?” Xiang Wan felt like laughing at her words.

“Hurhurhurhur…” Fang Yuanyuan chuckled softly and sinisterly as she stretched two fingers at her as though she would poke her eyes. “I could have pretended to act tough and return with a satisfying face-slapping post…”

“As if!” Xiang Wan did not look at Du Landuo’s direction. She only smiled slightly as she replied. “Even if you did so, those people’s saliva would still drown me…”

“So what? Who could she blame when she brought it upon herself by being up to no good in the first place?”

“Precisely! What you’ve said is right! Ironically, people do not think this way. In this world, people have higher expectations for the good, yet their attitude towards bad people got too lenient… The moment good people did something wrong, people would point fingers at them right away. When a bad person did only a good deed or when the bad person becomes a victim, people would easily forgive them… As for me, I just want to be on the side of justice!”

“…”

Fang Yuanyuan looked astonished.

“Why are you thinking so much about this? You live a tough life because you overthink too much!”

Fang Yuanyuan got up from her seat after letting out a laugh. “Let’s go, we can leave the hall now…”

Xiang Wan said nothing more.

However, just as she lifted her gown and was preparing to leave, Du Landuo suddenly dashed over and stood in the hallway. With many pairs of eyes watching, she looked at Xiang Wan with her teary eyes.

“Xiang Gongzi, I’ve misunderstood you. I’ll apologize to you. Please forgive me this once and let me off, is that okay?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep